I thought i had fixed my vibration on my 67 cuda. New mark Williams shaft, changed pinion angle, new wishbone. Now, just to be safe, i bought a bubble balancer to check the REAR SLICKS (brand new Goodyear) and it took “26”ounces to balance one tire. The other tire was almost as bad, 16 ounces for that one. I know many of you don’t balance, but the tire installer said he’s sure the goodyears (. And maybe the tubes in them) are defective. I’m awaiting his tear down tomorrow and opinion of what’s wrong. I was running 10 lbs air in the slick and have about 8 passes on them. The vibration shook the entire car, it was bad. I think my problem all along was defective tire and just pissed away 1200 on a new Williams shaft. Any of you running Goodyear have any issues with them????

Thanks

Never had a balance problem on mine (13 x 31 x 15). FWIW I also ran tubes.
If there's a lot of weight needed, rotating the tire to a different position has worked on my street vehicles.

I run M/T's & use to have a bad vibration in the driveline. Was told it was my driveshaft so I had it balanced, but it was fine. So I took my slicks to the Truck shop & they balanced them. One side had a huge amount of lead stuck on it & the other had very little. Both slicks have the same run out but were so different. After balancing the car was totally different & ran so smooth so I always get my slicks balanced. Another racer I know had bad tire shake after the launch & he got his balanced too, even tho other racers said it was a waste of time, but he said it improved his launch & was getting better 330' times. Each to their own but I'm a firm believer of balancing. .

I've return more than one new set of slicks due to them taking more than eight ounces to balance them.
I have seen a bunch of slicks that were out of round as well as having severe heavy spots on them
I was told by one of the west coast racing tire reps that those problems are usually cause by the factory workers taking them out of the molds to soon and letting them set on the tread part of slick making them become mess up like they are, out of round and a bad heavy spot
IHTHs

I've mainly been a M/T guy and have been using them since 2003 when I started to race a car. Around 2005/2006 Goodyear ran a special, buy one tire get one 1/2 off or something like that. So, I bought a set. Worse set of tires I ever had. At the time I never balanced my slicks. I was running 11 lbs of air in the M/T but had to run 8 lbs in the Goodyear as they shook so bad. I was also only racing 1/8th mile at the time. I haven't bought another Goodyear tire since. Around 2011/2012 or so I received a set of M/T that shook some. Since then, I started bubble balancing my slicks and the car is so much smoother. They do take a good bit of weight (I also run tubes).

I bubble balance every slick that goes on my car.

I also have ran M/T tires for a very long time (around 1988 to present). Used to mount tires w/tubes and no balancing was needed. The last 8 or so years, I've had to balance every one of them, with some needing a lot of weight. Also sent one pair back to the dealer because in addition to needing a lot of weight to balance it, it hopped like a bunny rabbit just driving it in the pits. Car is a lot smoother on track and in the burn out after the tires are balanced.

Brian

16 ounces?!?!?!?

26 ounces?!?!?!?

Those should go right back to the vendor.

Another thing to look for that I see all the time is out of round or egg shaped tires. You will feel that in the car and no amount of balancing will cure it. Needing lots and lots of weights is an indication that the tire(s) will more than likely be out of round, too. A spin balancer is key to finding the out of rounds before too much time is spent on them. Any significant out of round is a no go for me. They will never get any better and no attempts at balancing will cure the vibration that they cause.

I nearly quit buying MTs over these issues and was a big part of my decision to go to the 275 drag radials rather than the 295s. All of the 295s were just about unusable. At least I can find 275s that don't totally shake my fillings out.

And bolt up your wheels to the car and check that run-out, too. I have seen aftermarket axles and rims that were terrible.

I bet its not the tires, its something with the balancing. Both being off that much......26 ounces on one?!?!? Never do that, figure out what is wrong.

All the years I have raced I never seen any slick from the big 3 take any more than 8.

I bubble balance mine with a cheap harbor freight balancer. Been doing that way for years.

With tube's it's important to use liberal amounts of baby powder and air up and pull the big hole on the slick and let it suck in a bunch. Do that a couple times before balance. They need rebalance every time you let all air out. If you air out a few times when new it helps.

Check your wheels.

Thanks to all of you that gave me your thoughts. The guy that repaired the horrible balance job and sells Hoosiers, not Goodyear, (he does pro stock and pro mod balancing at NHRA events) told me the tubes were twisted in numerous spots. One of them he said was really bad. After he installed new tubes, one tire took half an ounce, the other, an ounce. That sounds hopeful to me, but I don’t think I’ll buy Goodyear anymore. I always had good luck with Hoosiers. Yes, I do have my fingers crossed.
As I side note, I took the tires off because I noticed that one slick had no weights at all, it was the 26 ouncer. If you set this tire on the ground, it would roll away from you.

Thanks again

We had a set one time and one of the slicks needed a ridiculous amount of weight to even get it close and it still had a vibration. We sent them back! The most I have ever ran on a slick is a pound which to me is way to much weight.

I bubble balance my slicks and drag radials.

Not to get into any debates on balance , I have never put a set of slicks on without balance . I have used Hoosiers since 1995 . The guys that change them for me also race & it is true to use baby powder on the tubes . In the last 10 years it has taken more weight to balance . As far as returning them I never gave it another thought , they always ran smooth . Never had any of the horror stories about shake , or any other damage due to rear slicks . Gary

I always balance slicks simply because the balancer is right next to the tire machine I use to mount them so it's a no brainer for me. We have a really nice road force balancer at the dealership where I work that also measures the exact tire diameter as well.

Gus

For those who religiously balance their slicks have you ever put them on the balancer after a couple races?

i picked up this antique snap-on balancer at carlisle one year.
it seems to work pretty good. i did modify the stand width and height to be able to use it with large diameter and width tires.

after installing any tubes in any tires take center out of valve stem and fill and let out air many many times to untwist any twisted tubes, yes I know you allready know this

I always dump lots of baby powder I my slicks with tubes. Never had a problem with twisted tubes. Also used a harbor freight bubble balancer.